More and more people are participating in the stretches that burn: Pilates. Pilates is a form of deep, core strengthening stretches that generate a lot of heat in the body. Pilates may not look tough, but unless you’ve tried a Pilate’s workout recently, you may not realize just how tough this type of workout is.
Pilates is not for the faint of heart, in fact – if you’ve never done Pilates before – you should probably take a light or Pilates for beginners type course. A lot of local fitness clubs offer Pilates and there are numerous Pilates tapes and DVDs. Do not attempt advanced Pilates without some experience.
The positions, the muscle strength and deep stretching required to perform Pilates is tough; you will be sweating within a few minutes of beginning the exercise. You will feel the muscles you are using burn, tauten and build long, lean muscle.
Of the exercise choices you can make, Pilates is one of the best for targeting the core muscle group like your abdomen. Among the exercises that tighten and strengthen the abdomen include the standing hundred, plie with side lift, crisscross reach, single-leg front and back kick and the crossover sweep.
The Standing Hundred targets the core, shoulders and triceps. To understand the toughness of the pilates workout, the standing hundred requires that you stand with your feet hip width apart and your arms at your side, palms facing back. You pump your arms back 10 times vigorously and after 3 sets of ten, lift one of your legs and point your toes forward then begin pumping your arms for another set of ten. Switch legs and perform it again.
Try it sometime; you feel the heat burning through arms, legs and abdomen. You will feel the beads of sweat forming on your brow. You will feel your heart pick up the pace and have to take deeper breaths in order to compensate.
This is what makes Pilates the stretches that burn and build and provide you with a workout comparable to most machines. While it does provide some aerobic bonus, Pilates in combination with an aerobic exercise such as jogging in place for two minutes in between each Pilates stretch can really pump it up.
If you’re intrigued, check out a Pilates for Beginners course and be sure to check with your physician if you’ve never done this type of workout. Listen carefully to the instructor and do your best to stretch out fully at the beginning, this will decrease your chances for injury and improve your chances to enjoy a good, hard workout.